1. Field of the Invention
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn..sctn.119 and/or 365 to Patent Application No. 98-7069 filed in Korea on Mar. 4, 1998; and Patent Application No. 98-7503 filed in Korea on Mar. 6, 1998; the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine capable of effectively dissolving the detergent by magnetizing the water to be supplied into a detergent container.
2. Prior Art
FIGS. 7 and 8 show a conventional washing machine. The washing machine has an outer tub 107 suspended by a suspension 105 in a casing 101, a rotatable washing tub 109 installed in the outer tub 107, a pulsator 111 installed on the bottom of the washing tub 109, a driving motor 117 for rotating the washing tub 109 and/or the pulsator 111, a gear assembly 113 for transmitting the driving force of the driving motor 117 to the washing tub 109 and/or the pulsator 111, and a belt 115 for connecting the driving motor 117 with the gear assembly 113.
The upper side of the casing 101 is covered with a top cover 103 having an opening 119 at the central portion thereof. A door 121 for opening/dosing the opening 119 is installed on the top cover 103.
An accommodation section 125 is provided at the upper portion of the casing 101, and a detergent container is installed in the accommodation section 125. Floury detergent is contained in the detergent container 129. Further, a filtering member 160 is installed in the detergent container 129 in order that the detergent in a lump is not supplied into the washing tub 109.
A water supply pipe 123 is installed on the upper part of the accommodation section 125. The detergent in the detergent container 129 is dissolved by the water supplied into the detergent container 129 from the water supply pipe 123, and the water mixed with detergent is supplied into the washing tub 109.
As the pulsator 111 is being rotated by the driving motor 117, the laundry accommodated in the washing tub 109 is washed. When the washing operation is completed, the washing machine performs the dehydrating operation by rotating the washing tub 109 together with the pulsator 111 at high rotational speed. After the dehydrating operation, the rinsing operation is performed. For the rinsing operation, the washing machine supplies water into the washing tub 109 again through the water supply pipe 123, and then operates the pulsator 111.
The water supplied through the water supply pipe 123 contains positive ions such as calcium ion or magnesium ion. Such metallic impurities impede dissolution of the detergent, so the detergent in the detergent container 129 may not be completely dissolved by the water. If the detergent is incompletely dissolved, the efficiency of washing decreases. Furthermore, some detergent which is not dissolved may remain in the detergent container 129. The remaining detergent may be dissolved by the water supplied for the rinsing operation, and then supplied into the washing tub 109. Therefore, the efficiency of rinsing operation may decrease.